Water Rising
by songandsilence
Summary: here it comes, it's all blowin' in tonight. -- Post-'Sabbath Queen', AU, David/Michelle heavy but an ensemble piece.
1. Chapter 1

AN: Kings does not belong to me!! This takes place right after 'The Sabbath Queen' and is AU from there on out. I thought up the idea a while ago but have been kind of remiss in typing it up...it'll go epic places, though! Hold tight. :)  
Title/Lyrics from 'All I Need' by Matt Kearney

**Water Rising**

Here it comes it's all blowing in tonight  
I woke up this morning to a blood red sky  
They're burning on the bridge turning off the lights  
We're on the run I can see it in your eyes  
If nothing is safe then I don't understand  
You call me your boy but I'm trying to be the man  
One more day and it's all slipping with the sand  
You touch my lips and grab the back of my hand  
The back of my hand

Guess we both know we're in over our heads  
We got nowhere to go and no home that's left  
The water is rising on a river turning red  
It all might be okay or we might be dead  
If everything we've got is slipping away  
I meant what I said when I said until my dying day  
I'm holding on to you, holding on to me  
Maybe it's all gone black but you're all I see  
You're all I see

The walls are shaking, I hear them sound the alarm  
Glass is breaking so don't let go of my arm  
Grab your bags and a picture of where we met  
All that we'll leave behind and all that's left  
If everything we've got is blowing away  
We've got a rock and a rock till our dying day  
I'm holding on to you, holding on to me  
Maybe it's all we got but it's all I need  
You're all I need

And if all we've got, is what no one can break,  
I know I love you, if that's all we can take,  
the tears are coming down, they're mixing with the rain,  
I know I love you, if that's all we can take.  
A pool is running for miles on the concrete ground  
We're eight feet deep and the rain is still coming down  
The TV's playing it all out of town  
We're grabbing at the fray for something that won't drown

--

**Chapter One**

It was painful, really. Michelle stood in between her mother and her brother and tried desperately not to look in David's direction. He was standing a little off to the side in his military uniform with his hands clasped behind his back, and she wanted to grin at the secret knowledge that they were together now. Really together, in a way she never thought she would be with anyone. And, in all honesty, she hadn't thought she'd ever find someone who would even make her consider breaking her vow.

But she wasn't really breaking it, was she? _How does God not want love?_ Just thinking about it made her shiver with all the ramifications of those words. It wasn't just that she wanted to be with David enough to make her vow fit her wishes, but he had spoken the truth. _God is Love_, she thought. _How can God not want love?'_

Love. David loved her. She shifted impatiently on her feet as her father kept speaking, his voice booming out through the large conference room. All she had to do was stand here and look respectable, and she was finding that much more difficult than usual. Mostly because she had to concentrate very hard so her eyes didn't inadvertently drift towards David.

Once she looked over and caught him glancing at her but she didn't dare smile.

After the press conference, she innocently asked him if he would walk with her. He agreed.

Looping her arm through his, they strolled through the halls. When the noise of the conference had faded somewhat, David stopped and turned towards her, a smile creeping across his face.

"No, not here," she said quietly. "The walls have eyes." Disappointment crossed his face but he nodded. As they kept walking, she slid her hand so that her fingers were tangled with his and squeezed. She felt him smile.

"Can I see you tonight?" he asked a little while later.

"I'm not sure," she replied slowly.

"I haven't seen you in three days," was his slightly disappointed response. She laughed and looked up at him playfully.

"You see me almost every day."

"Not really. I don't get to _see_ you." His voice dipped and she almost blushed at the implication. Or, she would have blushed if she weren't too busy being distracted by the butterflies that had just erupted in her stomach. She bit her lip.

"Tomorrow night. Tonight we're having friends of the family over for a big dinner, but tomorrow...Tomorrow I can slip out unnoticed." She couldn't help but grin in response to the happiness that crossed his face. For a moment he leaned in, like he was about to kiss her, but then he stopped. They stared at each other for a moment.

"Tomorrow," he said.

"Tomorrow," she repeated. As he walked away, she realized she was glad he hadn't leaned in all the way to kiss her, because she wasn't sure she would have had the strength to pull away.

--

Michelle had a moment, just after she knocked on his door, to be nervous. She had left her guard and slipped through the streets, hopping in a cab and almost running up the stairs at David's. Breathing a little hard - from running up the stairs in addition to intense anticipation - she had smoothed her hair once before realizing she didn't care, and then had knocked on the door.

Incredibly quickly, David opened the door. He inhaled sharply at the sight of her and in an instant they were reaching for each other.

She didn't think she would ever tire of the way it felt to kiss David. It was half painful, desperate, as if the world were about to end at any moment. It was also half joyful, because they were finding happiness in each other than only love could bring.

Somewhat forcefully, he tore her coat back from her shoulders. She let him, trying to find his lips as he did so and attempting to kick the door shut with her foot. Her aim was off, however, and she stumbled, letting out a little shriek and nearly toppling them both over. He laughed against her mouth and Michelle's heart soared. As they shed their clothes on the floor, she thought to herself, _how can God not want this? This. This perfect union between two people. How did I think God would disapprove of this? How could he?_

She arched her back as he lay on top of her, eager to feel all of her bare skin against all of his, her hair spreading like a dark river across his pale sheets. His kissed his way down her neck and she felt her stomach quiver in breathless anticipation. Her fingers tangled with his hair until he raised his head to look down at her.

The look in his eyes made gooseflesh ripple over her skin. _This is love,_ she thought as she placed her hand gently on the side of his face. _How can God not want this?_ He lowered his head until his lips just barely touched and they breathed the same air for a moment. Then she raised her chin just a centimeter and pressed her lips to his, opening at the gentle prompting of his tongue. It was a strange feeling to let herself have something she wanted.

"Michelle," he breathed, his slick skin sliding across hers as they moved together. "God, Michelle." One of her hands gripped the pillow under her head as the other clenched in his hair, and she opened her mouth in a silent exclamation. She wanted to tell him how much he meant to her, how much _this_ meant to her, but her mind was white – pure, unadulterated pleasure and pain and joy all wrapped into one moment.

"David," she managed, before she fell.

Later, Michelle found herself staring up at the ceiling, an arm bent back underneath her head, absentmindedly tracing patterns on David's warm skin. He was awake, but just barely. They had been lying in silence for a good twenty minutes, just pressed against each other and thinking.

"I'm assuming you can't stay the night," he said quietly. She didn't answer, and he propped himself up on one elbow, looking down at her with quiet sadness in his eyes. After a beat, she shook her head just the tiniest bit.

"No, I can't. I've been missed already."

He frowned. "Then why hasn't the royal guard burst through my door and aimed their guns at my head?"

A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. She raised a hand to cup his cheek and he leaned into it. "Because they are thoroughly convinced that you are just a friend. And because I have an agreement with my bodyguard."

"What kind of agreement?" he asked in mock suspicion. The grin she'd been holding back spread across her face.

"If I go somewhere safe, he agrees to be somewhere within a reasonable distance but he doesn't tell the king. Or the queen. Or Jack, for that matter." Her thumb ran back and forth across his cheekbone. "So I get time to myself, if I want it."

"Or time with me," he amended softly.

"Or time with you," she agreed. He placed and arm over her waist and leaned down to kiss her. She breathed him in eagerly, still so thrilled at every touch of his that she could sing. When her breathing began to get ragged in and he was rolling on top of her, she somehow managed to pull back. "I have to go, David."

His sigh blew across her face. "I know. I know. I'm sorry." He brushed the tip of his nose against hers. "It's so hard to let you go. I just want to spend the night with you in my arms."

Her breath caught in her throat. _Oh, love._ "I'll see you tomorrow," she whispered.

"Later today," he corrected in amusement.

"Even better," she replied, a smile on her lips. Neither of them moved, however, and she ran her hand over his forehead and back across his hair. "David?"

"Hm?"

"I love you."

It was the first time she had said it aloud, though she had been thinking it for some time now. For a long time now, actually. Maybe since she'd read the paper in the morning and the front page story had been of a boy hero standing up to the Goliath. Maybe since she had caught him playing piano. Maybe since he had traced her cheekbone on the day of the treaty signing. Still, she had never said those words to anyone outside of her family – and to her family she said them rarely – and they tasted different on her tongue.

The air around them got heavy, and Michelle was suddenly aware that something had shifted. He ran a hand across her temple and she knew, somehow, that he was it for her. The thought was more than a little unsettling, as if…he were the _end_ of something for her, as well as the beginning. Her heart gave one strong _thump_ and a sense of foreboding made the little hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.

"Michelle," he breathed, and the feeling disappeared. His lips crashed onto hers, and she welcomed him. They scrambled in the sheets, trying to get as close to each other as possible. She reveled in the feel of his strong, solid form, the soft golden hairs on his chest, the curls at the base of his neck, the fullness of his lips.

She had to break away. "David. I – _God_." His hands were on her, skimming across her ribs and cupping her breasts. "David." It was meant to be a sign for him to stop, but the words had somehow morphed into a plea for him to continue. He tugged at her bottom lip with her teeth and she dug her nails into his back. "David."

It was somewhere past the middle of the night when she finally slipped out of his bed and into her clothing, feeling his eyes burning into her bare back the entire time. It made her smile.

"Good night," she said, buttoning the last bit of her jacket and turning to him.

"Good morning," he replied, sitting up in bed with the sheets pooled around his waist. She was suddenly struck with the memory of those photos he took on the night the lights died, when time had stopped for them. Heat pooled in her chest.

Instead of saying goodbye again, she just stepped over to the bed for one last, lingering kiss, tipping his chin up with her small hand. "I'll dream of you tonight." Then she turned and walked out of the room into the dark, cool hallway.

--

By the time she had met up with her guard again and had slipped back into the palace, it was nearly two in the morning. Michelle rubbed her temple absently, wondering if she had time to sleep in the next morning. No, she had a meeting at 8:30. Ah well.

"You're home late."

The voice nearly made her jump out of her skin. Jack sat at the kitchen table, a glass of amber liquid in one hand and a book in the other. To calm her pounding heart, she tucked her hands in her pockets and walked over to him.

"Reading? I'd forgotten you knew how."

He smiled knowingly. "Charming. So much wit in such a tiny package."

She ignored his response to her attempted quip and crossed her arms. "What are you doing up so late? Usually when I see you at this time of day you're just heading out to a club." Her tone was half disdainful, half teasing. He was her brother, after all.

Jack shrugged and dropped the book on the table, taking a long gulp from his crystal glass. Michelle frowned. "You're going to hurt the binding if you put the book down like that." He gazed at her steadily and made no move to fix it.

Michelle sighed and turned to go. "Good night, Jack."

"How is David?"

She turned slowly. "Well, I assume."

Again, Jack gave her a knowing look. "Come now, little sister. Don't pretend like you didn't just leave his bed."

She met his gaze firmly. "It's really none of your business."

"I don't know," Jack replied slowly. "He is your first, right? Don't I have to play the big brother and grill him?"

"You've never taken any interest before, so why start being a big brother now?" she shot back.

"There haven't been any before him," he said, anger creeping into his voice. He said something else under his breath but Michelle missed it. Then he calmed again. "I wonder what our dear old father would have to say about you and the boy hero."

At that, Michelle snapped. "You can't tell him," she said sharply. When her brother just raised his eyebrows, she took a step closer and lay a hand on his shoulder. "Jack, please. _Please._"

He was silent for a moment and she could see a muscle clench in his jaw. But then he nodded tersely and she let loose the breath she had been holding. "Thank you." On a whim, she leaned down and kissed his cheek. "Good night, Jack."

When he didn't respond, she turned and walked upstairs to her room.

--

That night, she didn't dream of David.

She was wandering through the darkened hallways of the palace. It was similar to the night the lights had gone out, but every room was empty and there were no candles to give off a warm glow. The stone floor was cold beneath her bare feet.

She was somehow at the door leading into the large banquet hall, pushing them open without feeling her muscles strain, and looking inside.

She was staring at the floor, trying to place its color in the darkness…red. It was red. Covered in blood. Revulsion pooled in her throat but somehow she was stepping into the room, her bare feet surrounded by warm blood.

She was looking up, then, as something dark and flickering lunged past her, deeper into the room. There was a figure on a platform in the center of the hall, illuminated by some pale, ghostly light that didn't have an origin. It was a woman, a tall, willowy woman with striking features and nondescript coloring. Her dark eyes followed Michelle as she came closer and closer to the platform.

She was staring at the woman, seeing death in her eyes, and barely noticed what she was now standing in front of. It was a throne, made of wood and gold. No one sat in it, but against one of the arms rested a golden scepter, tarnished and battered. The woman slowly raised a hand and touched the back of the chair.

She was trying desperately to run as blood poured forth from the throne. It pooled around Michelle's ankles but she couldn't seem to move her feet. In sheer panic, she looked from the blood up at the woman.

She was going cold, so cold, and she smelled death in the room. Then the woman opened her mouth, opened it larger than any human being should be able to, and let loose a hellish, shrieking noise.

Michelle awoke with a strangled yell, tangled in her sheets.


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Here's chapter 2! Thanks for the reviews on chapter one. :) Not many (where is the Kings fandom???) but good ones. Thanks!

**Chapter Two**

"Darling, you can't meet the press like that! Where's your stylist?" Queen Rose strode over to where Michelle was leaning against the kitchen counter, her hands wrapped around a mug of coffee. It was raining outside, the drops like staccato notes on the window panes.

Michelle put down her mug. "She didn't come this morning."

Rose picked up the mug and placed it in the sink, out of sight, before tilting her head to look at her daughter. "Why not? You look like you didn't sleep a wink last night. Some make-up would be good before the photo op."

With a sigh, Michelle lightly ran a hand over her forehead. "Maybe that's because I didn't sleep very well last night." She paused, weighing her next words. "I don't feel well, mother."

The Queen stopped dead in her tracks before turning back towards her daughter slowly. "You don't...feel well?" repeated Rose slowly. A strange look flashed across her face before it was replaced with calm seriousness. "Like before?"

"No, no," Michelle said in a rush. "Not anything like that. Physically I feel fine. Mentally...I had the strangest dream last night."

Rose's eyebrows shot up. "You nearly give me a heart attack over a _dream_? Michelle, you can't say things like that after - you nearly scared me to death." She straightened her dress rather violently and gave Michelle a hard look. "We all have our nightmares." Michelle opened her mouth to say something, to explain, but the queen was already sweeping out of the room, Thomasina in her wake.

Michelle sank into a chair, staring blankly at the floor. She stayed there for some time as the every day chaos that was their kingdom continued around her. She only looked up when a pair of shoes materialized before her. Jack stood with his hands in his pockets, smirking down at her.

"Rough night?" he said, the smirk giving away his implication. Michelle didn't rise to the bait, instead looking up at him with faraway eyes and a furrowed brow.

"Do you ever have dreams you think might...be telling you something?" She stumbled over the words, unsure of how to say what she meant and unsure of how her brother would respond.

He shrugged. "All dreams tell us something."

She wrung her hands together. "Do you believe in prophecy?"

At this, his eyebrows shot up. "Here we enter a strange new conversation. Prophecy? Isn't that for country folk? I thought you were a woman of science."

"I just..." she trailed off and ran both her hands over her face. "Never mind. I have to go get ready for the photo."

As Jack strolled away, he called over his shoulder, "Wear that purple dress. It brings out your eyes." Michelle frowned at his retreating back. Sometimes - most of the time - she didn't understand her brother at all.

--

During those many long minutes of standing still and smiling until her cheeks hurt, Michelle caught sight of David. He was standing in the back of the crowd, hands clasped behind his back, most likely here on official business or advising her father. Still, his eyes found hers and he smiled. Suddenly she was smiling in earnest, and her cheeks didn't ache as much.

Her mother was a cool figure beside her, hand on Michelle's shoulder as she stood behind her daughter. There was no movement, no shifting back and forth to relieve aching feet, no gentle squeeze on Michelle's shoulder to let her know they were almost done. Just cool stillness.

Her father, however, was a ball of spitfire energy, as per usual. As he stood next to Jack - why Michelle always had to be the only one sitting, she didn't know, but she abhorred it - he cracked jokes that made the press laugh. They called out questions which he deflected with ease, and then he was saying, "Thank you all, that's enough for now."

"Puppy," he said in that grating way of his that he thought was charming. She shifted her eyes away. "Is something wrong? You don't look well." A shadow crossed his face and he took her chin in one of his hands. "Do you feel ill? Shall I call a doctor?"

"No, father," she said, turning her head so that her chin was free. "No need. Just a lack of sleep."

He studied her for a moment, gauging her words, before nodding. "Alright then. I must be off – I have business in the country." Not for the first time, Michelle felt mildly ill at those words. For years she had been suspecting…but no matter how bad things were, her father would never…she shook her head, banishing the thought.

"Darling," called her mother. "Come here, I have a question for you." Michelle walked over to the queen, hands clasped in front of her over the pleated silk skirt of her dress. "It is beginning to be the time where you must show more leadership in the kingdom." Michelle just barely stopped her eyebrows from shooting up. Hadn't she shown initiative already? "I would like you to assist me in planning the winter solstice festival." Her mother smiled, as if she were bestowing a great gift rather than a loathsome burden.

"Haven't I shown leadership in other arenas already?" asked Michelle, an edge to her voice. "Health care reform? Research for renewable energy? Things that will actually help the kingdom?"

Queen Rose pursed her lips. "Nothing helps a kingdom more than good moral."

"I'm sure," she replied dully. She was about to refuse when she remembered the look in her mother's eyes when the queen had seen her inside the quarantine room. Fear. Love. Anger. Perhaps this was a chance to mend the rift between herself and her mother. "I'll…help as much as I am able."

Rose's face broke into a smile. "There, see, was that so hard?" She lay her hand on her daughter's cheek. "We'll have you in shape to be queen in no time." Michelle could only stare as she walked away.

Queen? Surely not. That was Jack's place. Jack…and whomever he chose to take the place beside him. But even as she said this, the tiny seed in the back of her mind began to grow. As princess, she was told to choose other pet projects and blocked at every turn. As queen…as queen, the only person to block her would be the king. Her husband. A tiny smile crossed her face. Of course, in that daydream it was David in the throne beside her, and David would never block her attempts to do good in the kingdom. He would encourage them.

Tugging her skirt straight, she walked out of the room and banished the daydream from her head. She and David were unlikely to ever be together, let alone rule the kingdom. That right belonged to Jack.

Still, as she walked down the sunlit corridor, a vision of the bloody throne flashed through her mind. It stopped her in her tracks and goose bumps erupted all across her skin. She gulped in a shaking breath and put a hand on the stone wall to steady herself.

"Princess?" asked one of her guards. "Are you well?"

"Fine," she said, swallowing back the bile rising in her throat. "Just fine."

--

She found David easily enough. He was pacing an empty corridor, rehearsing what he was to say in the upcoming press conference. So engrossed in his practice, he didn't notice her until she lay a hand on his back. He whirled around and caught it tightly in his own. "Oh. Michelle. Sorry." Instead of dropping it, however, he just held it loosely in his.

Her smile was half-hearted. "Looks like both of us are on edge."

"You'd think by now I'd be used to speaking in front of a camera." He shook his head wryly. "I'd much rather be in the background."

This time her smile was fondly amused. "Not likely. People like their heroes to be visible." She reached up and ran her fingers along his cheek, feeling the skin heat up. Dodging her comment, David's eyes traced her face. His brows furrowed.

"Is everything alright with you? You look like you didn't sleep at all last night." Gently, he traced the shadows under her eyes. She ducked her head and felt him chuckle. "What, you didn't dream of me?" he said teasingly.

"No, I didn't." Her voice was much more serious. "David…do you believe in premonition?"

He frowned at her. "Premonition?" When she showed no sign of joking, he shook his head slowly. "I don't know. There was a time when…I didn't think at the time it meant anything, but looking back I realize it was a sign from God." He laughed wryly. "Actually, I think I've had two signs from God now. Pointing me on the right path."

Michelle shook her head. "No…not God." She broke away from him and ran both hands over her face. "God had no place in my dream."

"A dream?" he said. "Are you sure it wasn't just that – a dream?"

"I know it wasn't," she said fiercely. "It was too…it was surreal, but it felt like a sign of something to come. Something bad."

There was a long pause in which Michelle found herself reliving the dream – wading through the bloody throne room, standing frozen before the woman who –

"Are you sure?" David broke her train of thought and jolted her out of the dream. She turned to him and saw in his eyes that he accepted what she said as truth. She almost smiled. David was nothing if not a believer.

"Sure," she said. "Positive. It was so real." She shuddered and he immediately rubbed his hands up and down her upper arms.

"Can't have the princess catching a cold, now can we?" he said jokingly. A smile crept into the corners of her mouth.

"Thank you," she said for the unspoken favor of cheering her up. Glancing over her shoulder to see if anyone was coming, she stood on her toes and quickly pressed her lips to his. "Tomorrow, okay?"

"Tomorrow," he replied.

"Good luck!" she called over her shoulder as she walked away. He smiled and lifted his hand in a quick wave.

But even as she walked away with a lightness in her step, a chill swept across her skin. She shivered and wondered when this dream would leave her.

--

Not for some time, it would seem. That night when she finished tossing and turning in her too-big room full of silk curtains and moonlight and finally slipped into sleep, she found herself back in the same corridor. The stones were freezing cold beneath her feet, so cold that it felt like the bottoms of her feet were burning, but she couldn't walk quickly enough.

But as she took another step, her feet became unexpectedly warm, and when she looked down she saw everything from her ankles down was encased in a pool of red blood. Bile rose in her throat, but she could do nothing to stop the movement of her legs.

She was there again, the tall woman. Her dark eyes – dark in a way that they held no reflection of light – followed Michelle as she walked toward the dais, toward the blood-soaked throne. As she approached, the woman looked down on her and Michelle was awash with a sense of _knowing_.

Something was coming.

"Something is coming," the woman affirmed, as if Michelle had spoken the words aloud. "Your time is coming, Michelle Benjamin." Her softly accented voice slid coolly into Michelle's ears. She wanted to respond, but of course she couldn't. This was a dream. Just a dream.

"Not a dream," said the woman quietly. With slow purpose, she reached and set her hand on the back of the throne. "It is coming, Michelle."

"Miss Benjamin!"

The shout woke her, a scream stuck in her throat. Gasping hoarsely, she found herself looking up into the eyes of one of her guards, leaning over her bed with fear in his eyes. He swallowed. "You were screaming in your sleep, miss."

Michelle wiped the sweat from her brow. "Get my coat."

"Miss?"

"I'm going out."

--

Her hands were freezing by the time they knocked on David's door. It took him a while to answer, though she couldn't blame him as it was nearly three in the morning and he would of course be asleep.

He blinked blearily when he opened the door. "Michelle?"

"Can I come in?" she asked, ashamed at how small her voice was.

"Of course," he said, confusion still heavy in his voice. He stood aside and looked over her shoulder at her guard as she swept inside. "Are you okay?"

She quickly shed her coat and stood on the tips of her toes, dragging his face down to hers. He kissed her back out of instinct as her kisses became more urgent, hasty, but she could feel his reluctance. When her hands found their way inside his shirt and up his muscled stomach, he quit holding back and responded with abandon.

They fell into his bed with a sharp exhalation of air, ripping each other's clothing off and cold skin finding warm. Michelle let her mind go black, let herself think only of David and his goodness, David and his light that drove away all of the bad things in her life. He grinned as he held her, still in awe that they were able to be together, and she returned it. After all those months, _years_, of denying herself, this was what living was meant to feel like.

She fell asleep with David's arms tightly around her, his solid warmth pressed against her back, feeling safe for the first time in days.

--

Her feet her hot, scalding, and ankle-deep in blood. She didn't have the will power to be shocked, but she felt her heart pounding in her chest. No, she couldn't be back here again.

But there was the woman again. This time, however, Michelle stepped out of the blood and onto the dais, just to the left of the throne. The woman walked towards her, slowly, her grey dress dragging through the red pool covering the flagstone floor.

When she reached the base of the dais, the woman stopped and looked up at Michelle with her dead black eyes. "You time, Michelle." Her voice was sickeningly soothing. "It's here."

"What do you mean?" Somehow Michelle found the strength to speak.

"Look," the woman said, nodding towards the throne. Michelle turned her head.

"Michelle!"

The shout woke her, a scream stuck in her throat. Gasping for air, she looked up and saw David over her, his eyes full of confusion and concern. "You were screaming in your sleep, you were – "

She rolled away from him, quickly, and raced to the window, yanking it open. The cold air hit her like a sharp slap to the face, but she welcomed it. Gasping it in till her throat ached, she gripped the window sill with white knuckles.

David had been sitting in the bloody throne.


End file.
